Process of rolling beams



(No Model.)

Rm 00 oo 1 9 1 y & d me t En Be m WP L L O R P 0 S S E O 0 R P T 2 Z 001 3 O N UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES L. TAYLOR, OF SWISSVALE, AND JOSEPH SKEWIS, OF PITTS- BURG,PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF ROLLING BEAMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 318,220, dated May19,1885.

Application filed September 30, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES L. TAYLOR, of Swissvale, and JOSEPH SKEwIs,of Pitts burg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania,have invented a new and use ful Improvement in Rolling Beams; and we dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof.

Our invention relates to the manufacture of wrought-metal beams, thesebeams being largely employed for structural purposes, and beinggenerally termed I-beams. These beams are generally rolled fromrectangular piles, ingots, or blooms, the entire reduction or workcoming on the sides of the pile or ingot, and as the center forming theweb is reduced and elongated much more than the edges forming theflanges of the beam, which are not reduced proportionately, they areconsequently stretched by the center or web, and the beam is thrown onastrain. This stretching of the flange portions without sufficientlyworking or reducing them often causes the cracking or breaking of theedges of the beams, and so renders them imperfect and unfit for use, aswhere they sustain heavy weight or strain these cracks are liable toopen and leave the web unsupported. In making these beams from ingots itis necessary to reheat the metal twice during its reduction, as withoutthese reheatings the flange portion would become so cold and stiff as tobe very liable to crack and open during reduction in the rolls.

The object of our invention is to overcome these objections in themanufacture of these beams.

It consists, essentially, in rolling these beams by first reducing andconcaving the ingot or pile across the edges or flange ends thereof, andthen reducing and concaving it across the sides to form the web andperfect the flanges, the metal forming the flanges being first workedand elongated and the flanges partially formed, and the center or webbeing next worked or elongated, and consequently as both flange and webportions receive approximately the same amount of work and elongationthe beam is formed, substantially,

without strain, and all liability to cracking or breaking of the edgesof the flanges is overcome. v

To enable others skilled in the art to make anduse our invention, wewill describe the same more fully, referring to the accompany- 5 5 ingdrawings, in which- Figure. l is an elevation of the rolls employed forrolling the beams. Fig. 2 is an elevation of the flnishingmill forrolling beams. Figs. 3 to 10 are sectional views of 6 the ingot or pile,showing its gradual reduc-v tion to the finished beam. Figs. 11 to 14are sectional views illustrating the rolling of beams of small diameter,and Figs. 15 to 18 are sectional views illustrating the rolling of 6 5channel-beams. 1

Like letters of reference indicate like parts in each.-

iThe ingots or piles can be rolled and reduced either in a two-high.reversible mill or a three-high mill with or without movable rolls. Thethree-high mill with adjustable middle roll shown in the drawingsillustrates the most approved rolls for the purpose, the pass or passesa being employed to reduce theingot or pile on the edges or across thefaces of the flange portions, the convex faces b at the same timeconcaving the faces of the flange portions, and the collars a holdingthe ingot or pile in position.- The passes d e are employed to reducethe ingot or pile across the sides and concave the sides to form theinitial depressions in rolling the web of the beam, these initialdepressions being formed by the enlargements ff. The pass or passes ghaving the convex faces 9 are employed where it is desired to form abeam of smallwidth or diameter, the beam beingfirst edge-rolled in thepasses a, then given its initial shape in the passes d e, and thenedge-rolled to further concave the edges or flange portions and toreduce it in width according to the size of beam required.

The rolls shown in Fig. 2 illustrates the ordinary mill for rolling orfinishing the beam, 5

the beam brought approximately to shape by fourteen and one-half inches,as shown in Fig.

of greater width than the widthof the finished beam-for example, theingot or pile for a fifteen-inch beam being generally about eight eeninches in width and about fourteen inches in thickness, as shown in Fig.3, according to the required elongation or work to be put upon it. Thisbeam is first entered on its edge to the pass or passes a andgraduallyreduced, the elongation or work coming on the edges or flangeportions k, and these edges being coneaved, as at Z, by the convex facesI) of the rolls.

In forming a fifteen-inch beam the ingot or pile is reduced untilslightly less in width than the width of the finished beam, generallyabout 5, .to allow for spreading.- The ingot-with the concave edges orflange portions is then given a quarter-turn and entered to the pass (Iin the position-shown in Fig. 6, and is gradually reduced in the passcsdand e, the elongation or work come on the side faces, m, of the ingot orpile, and the central portion of the ingot or pile being reduced by theenlargements f f of the rolls to form the initial depressions nvfor .theweb of the beam. As the metal isrol'led in'these passes, the pressure onthe side faces forces out the metal-in'the center toward the edges'k,and so graduallyfills out theconcavities Z, and at the same time as theconcavities are filledout by the same pressure'the corner portions arespread out to fill'the grooves of the rolls, the previous concaving ofthe flange faces thus serving to assist in the formation of the flangesof the beam, and consequently on the subsequent reduction; to the beamthese corners forming the flangesreceiving greater reduction and work orelongation. As the metal is further reducedthe cavities Z are filled,entirely, and the blank so formed is then rolled .to the finished beamshown in Fig. 10 through the ordinary mill, the passes from 1 to 5 inFig. 2 being suitable for the purpose. As the edge portions of the ingotor pile are first elongated, and-when it is rolled on the side faces,the corners p are s'pread,zas before described, to assist in raisingthe'corners to form the flanges, the elongation of the central portionforming the web is compensated by the previous elongation and concavingof the edge faces'and the spreading of the corners, and as the flangeportionsof the beam have received as much,

or nearly asnuch, work or elongation as the web portion, strain in thefinished beam is "prevented or-reduced to aminimum, and the formation ofcracks or seams along the edges of the flanges is entirely overcome.

\Vhere it is desired to form beams of less width to, overcome thenecessity of. special roughing-rolls for each width of beam, we employthe pass or passes g, and after the ingot or pile shown in Fig. 3 isgradually reduced .in the mannerzdescribed to about the form shown inFig. 9, while the central portion is still of sufficient thickness tosustain endpressure without buckling, we edge-roll it in these passes,as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, and so reduce it to the proper width forrolling to the desired width of beam, at the same time again concavingits edge faces to assist "in further spreading the flanges, and it canthen be rolled [to beam,-as shown in Fig. 14, in a inillhaving theproper passes. As the metal in the reduction from the ingot-or pile tothe finished ibea'm receives substantially the same work or reductionthroughout, it is found that it can be reduced Without reheating,-or,where it is-subse'quently edge-rolledto form a-beam of smallersize,-with but one reheating, and consequently we savefrom one to tworeheatings in the manufacture of the beams.

In forming channel-beams the ingot or pile oftheproper width andthickness is edgerolled, as above described, and is then rolled to shapeby pressure on its side faces, the in got or pile being but slightlyconca ved*onone sideto assist in pressing outthe flanges on the otherside, as illustrated in Figs.'-15"aud 18, and the-same advantages beingobtained in forming the flanges on oneside of the finished beamr r Whatwe claim as ourinvent'ion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

Themethod herein described of rolling beams, consistingin first reducingand concaving the ingots-or pile across the edges or flange ends thereofand then reducing and concaving it'across the sides to form the web andraise the flanges. V

- In testimony whereof we, the said CHARLES LTAYLOR and JosEPH SKEWIs,have -here untoset our hands.- Y

, CHARLES L. TAYLOR; JOSEPH SKEWIS.

-' Witnesses: v J

JAMES I. KAY,

Jas. U. 000KB;

